Really great returns to medical education?

This article reports the value of a medical education as opposed to education for alternative professional careers, using 1970 Census data. When standard net present value computations are performed, it is found that the returns to investment in medical education exceed those to education for alternative professions. When the computations are adjusted for hours worked, physicians' earnings become roughly equal to those of dentists and lawyers but remain clearly superior to those of the other professions considered. Additional information on the earnings of physician cohorts vs. dentist cohorts for the post-Flexner era is also reported.